Improvement in blackings for leather



UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE.

ABNER D. STRONG, OF ASHTABULA, OHIO.

IMPROVEMENT lN BLACKINGS FOR LEATHER.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 141,829, dated August 12, 1873 application filed May 28, 1873.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ABNER D. STRONG, of Ashtabula, in the county of Ashtabula and State of Ohio, have invented a certain new and useful Blacking for Leather Goods, of which the following is a specification:

My invention consists in compounding paraffine with a suitable solvent and lamp-black, the same constituting a superior article of blacking, which possesses great practical value as a preservative, andis susceptible of receiving a fine, solid, and comparatively durable polish; and I do hereby declare that the following specification is a clear and true description of my invention, and a practical method of compounding, preparing, and using my improved blacking.

It is well known that the several kinds of paraffiue of commerce are known as crude, hard, and soft. The crude paraffine, it will be understood, yields the other varieties, and it is unnecessary in this connection to describe the methods of treatment known to the art for effecting the desirable separation.

For blacking adapted to certain purposes I treat the crude paraffine of commerce with naphtha, crude or refined, so as to form a saturated solution at a temperature of about 21 centigrade. Ordinarily, about eleven ounces of paraffine will beheld in a gallon of said solution. To one gallon of this solution I add from three-quarters of an ounce to one and one-half ounce of lamp-black of average quality. The result is a valuable article of blacking, which is well adapted for preserving and softening exposed leather, and which, upon the slight application of friction, develops a tolerably fine polish.

The soft paraffiue is made with naphtha into a saturated solution, which will hold preferably about forty-five ounces of soft paraffine to the gallon; and to one gallon of this solution I add a quantity of carbon, as before stated, and the product is an article of blackin g which is also admirably adapted for preserving leather, and is susceptible of being developed into a polish of somewhat less brilliancy or solidity than that made from the crude paraffiue.

The hard paraffiue is made into a saturated solution with naphtha, in which there will be preferably about eight and onchalf ounces of paraffine to the gallon, at a temperature of about 21 centigrade, to which about the same quantity of lamp-black before named is added. This preparation constitutes a blackin g which is a good preservative, but more suitable for receiving an ornamental polish than either of the others named.

Although other solvents may be employed with approximate results, I prefer naphtha to any other, not only on account of its being inexpensive, but because it is a thorough solvent for the paraffine group. Turpentine is a tolerable solvent of paraffine, but it is too expensive to be employed when naphtha will serve a better purpose. Alcohol and sulphuric ether are partial solvents, but, like turpentine, are too costly for use instead of the naphtha, which is known to be best adapted to the purpose.

So far as producing the blacking is concerned, either of the solvents named, and no doubt many others, would produce results closely approximate to that attained by the use of naphtha and I do not, therefore, confine myself to the particular kind of solvent, nor to the quantity, quality, or character of paraffine used in the compound.

I am well aware, also, that the proportion of carbon to the gallon of solution may be varied at will, but the excess or deficiency outside of the limits of quantity named would not be met with practically valuable results.

For some purposes it will be desirable to neutralize the peculiar odor of the naphtha, and this may be effected in the main by the addition thereto of a small quantity of some inexpensive essential oil-as, for instance, citronella. The odor of the naphtha under any circumstances is, however, observable but a short time after application.

In all cases my improved blacking, whether composed of crude, hard, or soft paraffine, will render the leather to which it-is applied practically water-proof, and the polished surface phcre, it will be seen that the leather will be free from those injurious chemical changes to which, under like circumstances, the oils usually used in the manufacture are liable, and therefore that'the tissues of the leather are but little liable to rot.

As the use of any special member of the paralfine group in this connectio11as, for instance, urpethite or hatchettite--would not be attended by results of greater value than those attained by the use of the paraffine of commerce, classified under the general heads of crude. soft, and hard, I do not deem it essential to refer to such different members of the paraffiue group as separate components of my blacking.

To apply my blacking to leather I use a 

